The Nostell Priory 'antique Commode very curiously Inlaid' - 1770
workshop of Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner)
Category
Furniture
Date
22 Dec 1770 (invoiced)
Materials
Mahogany, satinwood, rosewood, various timbers as inlay such as ripple sycamore, purpleheart, tulipwood, deal carcase, top veneered onto oak, ormolu, gilt brass
Measurements
87 x 168.5 x 70 cm
Place of origin
St. Martin's Lane
Order this imageCollection
Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire
NT 959737
Summary
A mahogany, satinwood and rosewood serpentine commode, English, made by Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1776 - 1771 when operating without a business partner) for Nostell Priory in 1770. Some commentators (see Gilbert, 1978, Vol. II, p. 125) also mention fustic amongst the materials used. The top inlaid with a central fan patera and with crossbanded borders; the front corners inlaid with smaller fan patera. The pair of doors inlaid in the Neo-classical taste with urns within ovals with borders formed from stiff leaves, beneath a riband-tied garland of husks or bellflowers. The doors enclosing a rosewood-veneered interior of four drawers and a vacant compartment. Each corner with an ormolu mount cast with acanthus fronds, bellflowers and cabochons. The mounts to the feet acanthus scrolls. The mount concealing the joint between the doors cast with bellflowers. The drawer linings of oak. The top veneered onto oak. Some of the metal furniture gilt brass. Much of the foliate detail engraved. ---
Full description
This magnificent commode was supplied by Chippendale to Nostell Priory in 1770, when accounts of the 22nd December list it as 'To a large antique Commode very curiously Inlaid with various fine woods, with folding doors and drawers within & very rich chas'd Brass Ornaments complete'. At a cost of £40, 0s, 0d, it was one of the most expensive pieces of furniture in the house at the time. Gilbert (1978) states that this commode was made for Lady Sabine Winn's bedchamber. The modifications to the rear edge of the top - it has notches at either end - have suggested that this is the commode referred to in a letter of Rowland Winn to Chippendale of 4th September 1770, in which Sir Rowland complains 'I have only yet Recd Lady Winn's commode & that I must Return as it is too large for the place tho' you measur'd it.' However, it is more likely that the commode was at one time positioned in front of a door surround, as the notches follow the shape of the moulding of a door surround. (Entry adapted by Megan Wheeler, March 2018)
Provenance
Purchased by Sir Rowland Winn, 5th Baronet, in 1770 and thence by descent until accepted by HM Treasury in lieu of death duties on the estate of Rowland Winn, 4th Baron Oswald (1916 - 1984), 1986
Makers and roles
workshop of Thomas Chippendale (fl. 1766 - 1771 when operating without a business partner), cabinet maker
References
Boynton and Goodison, 1969: Lindsay Boynton and Nicholas Goodison. “The furniture of Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory.” Burlington Magazine III June 1969: pp.350-60., pp. 356 & 359, Figure 18 Boynton and Goodison, 1968: Lindsay Boynton, and Nicholas Goodison. “Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory.” Furniture History 4 (1968): pp.10-61., p. 56 Boynton and Goodison, 1969: Lindsay Boynton and Nicholas Goodison, 'The furniture of Thomas Chippendale at Nostell Priory', Burlington Magazine III, May 1969: pp. 281-5., p. 282 Gilbert (1978): Christopher Gilbert, The Life & Work of Thomas Chippendale (1978), 2 volumes., Vol. I, pp. 172 and 191, Vol. II, Figures 221 & 222